Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Sai's Comments:

No doubt the illegal regime will be keenly eyeing this as a foreign exchange earner to prop up the Fiji economy.

It is clear that the regime's existence rests largely on trying to keep the economy going, even to the point of bleeding the locals. This is evidenced by the desperate measures it has put in place which defies economic sense.

Reducing the age of retirement to save money will have the opposite effect due to loss of key skills and expertise and the significant delay in reducing the resulting knowledge and productivity gap. It takes longer to make up the loss sustained as additional capabilities will be required and not just a straight replacement.

Also on the revenue side, I would not be surprised the decision to regulate the radio and TV spectrum is a mask to sell them off to the highest bidder. In the same basket will be the attempt to open up unused land. The said thing about both these assets, is the cultural value they serve which may well not feature in the regime's calculation given its desperation for much needed revenue.

Fees from drilling and exploration licenses is another revenue source that will increasingly be tapped as only foreign investors, no doubt partnering with regime supporters, will be able to afford. Fiji and its people should expect more of their natural resources being opened up to foreigners as the local cash cow (FNPF) dries up.

Despite all these foreign money, there is bound to be a net loss to the Fiji economy as profits will be repatriated overseas, environmental impact will be borne locally (just ask the Africans on the Chinese mining impact) and minus the initial huge upfront outlay by government just to attract the investors in the first place.

At least all these policies make it clear as day the life blood to the regime's existence - "the economy stupid".

Chile in the days of the dictator Pinochet, employed the same approach managing to grow its economy under a repressive regime. Remember Voreqe's training days with the Chilean navy, but I doubt he had what was needed to absorb any of that!

Therefore efforts to bring the regime down also need to be directed at negating the approach. Not to worry though as the regime, with its nonsensical economic policies, is already making a head start on it, even if it does not realise it.

December 23, 2009- www.fijilive.com

China’s rich looking to purchase properties away from home have Fiji in their sights, according to Air Pacific’s representative in Asia.

“There are a lot of queries coming right now regarding property purchases in Fiji,” said Hong Kong-based Watson Seeto when asked about the opportunities for Fiji in mainland China especially with the Fiji government forging closer ties in the Orient.

“Land prices in Hong Kong are very high. So it’s really the people coming from China, they basically are asking about investment properties or holiday homes in Fiji.”

“So once I get enough queries and put together a data base I will be going to the Fiji Trade and Investment Board or the real estate agents in Fiji to try and generate that market.”

According to Seeto, there are currently tour packages for investors going into New Zealand and Australia to buy homes, which Fiji could tap into.

“They come in small groups of 10 to 15, but they have basically a couple of million dollars to spend per person,” he said.

“The Chinese market is the market we have not fully tapped. It’s the biggest market we know is going to be available to Fiji.”

China's super-rich usually purchase homes and luxury brand items in Hong Kong, one of the main financial centers of the Far East.

According to one real estate report, property prices in Hong Kong are booming in part because of mainland cash pouring into the city.

But these days, the prices are what is taking people's breath away and a modest apartment now can go for $30 million, reports CNN.

An apartment in Hong Kong, a 6,200-square-foot duplex, recently sold for a record $57 million.

The Expat Forum reports that this year, Hong Kong returned to its status as having one of the most expensive real estate sectors in the world, both for the commercial and residential real estate.

Prices are sky high due to the fact that there is very little property on the open market, and what is there will be squeezed up to crazy prices, it said.

Some properties within the centre of the business sector are going for something in the region of $4,000 a square foot, a massive increase on 10 years ago, it said.

Seeto is optimistic that given Air Pacific’s twice weekly direct flights between Nadi and Hong Kong, Fiji is in an ideal position to take advantage of China’s economic power.

“We’re the only guys that can land you in the South Pacific,” he said.

“When we first did our study we thought it was 60 per cent from UK and Europe on the Hong Kong flight, but that’s reversed in the last three months. It’s 60 per cent tourists from China to Fiji, the UK/Europe number has dropped.”

“Our partnership with Cathay Pacific also gives us the global reach – there are many opportunities there. We have a code-share in only one sector, which is the Nadi-Hong Kong route. We are talking to Hong Kong, hoping to open opportunities in other routes.”

Sunday, December 13, 2009

www.fijilive.com - December 13, 2009

Chiefs from Tailevu Province have promised to put money into helping their imprisoned sons and daughters start a new life in their villages upon their release.

The ‘vanua’ of Tailevu led by its Provincial Council Chairman Josefa Serulagilagi visited the inmates of the Nasinu Reformative Centre, the Naboro Correctional Centre and the Suva Prison at the Naboro Correctional Academy Mess on Friday.

It was the first ever such visit by the Province of Tailevu.

Chairman Serulagilagi likened the visit to the biblical story of the Good Shepherd going back to look for a single lost sheep.

Serulagilagi told the inmates that from next year onwards the council will be setting aside funds for their rehabilitation.

“The council has decided that next year we will set aside funds to rehabilitate and set you up in the village,” Serulagilagi is quoted by State media.

“Come back to the village. Once you are there, everything will work out, and the vanua will help you.”

Serulagilagi said the committee tasked to work on the rehabilitation of ex-offenders will work closely with the prison authority.

Serulagilagi said that the vanua is ready to give its sons and daughters a second chance, but he cautioned them that there will be no third chance.

Meanwhile, Taito Raiwaqa, who calls himself a “veteran prisoner”, told the delegates from Tailevu that he wants to start a new life upon his release in 2015.

“This the first time for my high chiefs to come and visit us inmates,” he said.

“This visit is truly inspirational, it motivates people like me to rethink about the kind of life we are leading.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

www.fijitimes.com - Maneesha Karan

EIGHTY-six year old Ana Waqanitoga cannot live without her island home -Levuka on Ovalau.

Singing and beating the lali during meke performances, Ms Waqanitoga says it's impossible for her to find the peace of home in any other place.

Two of her seven children live in Suva and she often visits them.

But she tires easily of the busy city life and longs to return to her village where she indulges in her favourite pastimes of gardening and socialising.

"This is my life and I can't think of living anywhere else. I've lived here all my life - the neighbours are my family," she said.

"I have a flower garden and plant a little cassava and dalo. I weave mats which I use for traditional purposes and visit friends and families in the village.

"It is safe because everyone knows me and they help me when I'm in need."

Ms Waqanitoga and her family survived on farm produce when the children were growing up.

She remembers packing boiled cassava for her children's school lunch.

"It was a hard time for us because my husband had no fixed job," Ms Waqanitoga said.

"Some money came in from the sale of cassava and dalo but there wasn't enough to send the children in a bus or carrier, so they had to walk four kilometers to attend Marist Convent School."

Ms Waqanitoga's husband died 35 years ago. She now lives by herself in her little home, although she never lacks help with her children and grandchildren assisting her daily and providing her with groceries.

Ms Waqanitoga keeps busy in the cassava patch. It keeps her healthy and strong although she's often disturbed by the attitude of the younger generation.

"The young people do not respect the elders as they did in our time," she said.

"Those were good times when everybody loved each other but now people talk back to their elders and fight among themselves."

She says children should practise the virtues of life to strive to become successful and respected

www.fijitimes.com - Saturday, December 12, 2009

RATU Tevita Makutu gave up his working career five years ago to become the evangelical leader for the Nadroga division of the Methodist Church.

"I heeded a call from God and my life and the lives of my wife and six children have been blessed since," Ratu Tevita said while helping at the Methodist Church Evangelism Renewal Seminar in Cuvu yesterday.

Ratu Tevita has been a volunteer evangelist for the past 17 years and said he made the decision to do so after observing what his children and the youth in his province were going through.

"A lot of the youth were born in and around 1987 and have been brought up in turbulent times," Ratu Tevita said.

"This is reflected in their attitudes and acts of rebellion at home and in the community.

"I believe that this revival will go a long way in changing their mindset, spirit and outlook on life."

The evangelist also said that there had been a marked increase in youth numbers attending church.

Ratu Tevita was also overwhelmed at the numbers of young people attending the seminar.

"There is a huge revival in the Methodist Church in Fiji today," he said.

"More and more people are beginning to realise that in these economically trying times only God is the answer to every situation, circumstance and problem," Ratu Tevita add

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

www.fijilive.com - December 02, 2009

Fiji's native land leases are going to be priced at market rates as part of the government’s ambitious land reform plans.

Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum said the land reform initiative will be spearheaded by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and should see the unlocking of much of Fiji’s unused land.

“Land reform essentially means making land available for productive use and longer tenure. Under the Agricultural Landlord and Tennant’s Act, you have agricultural land tenure for a very short lease period. The idea is to make that available for a longer period where the landowners themselves actually benefit and would-be investors are able to access that land, pay market rates and get into agriculture,” Sayed-Khaiyum.

Previous governments have tried unsuccessfully to bring about land reforms in Fiji, with their failure being blamed on politics.

One of the main issues that had been thrashed about in the past was the land rental under ALTA, which is said to be among the lowest in the world at six percent of the land’s Unimproved Capital Value.

The ruling Bainimarama government however has put land reform down in its 10-point plan, a schedule of what it wants to achieve by 2020.

Sayed-Khaiyum said consultations with various stakeholders, including native landowners, have already begun.

The communally-owned native land makes up some 80 percent of Fiji’s available land but most of that remains largely unused.

Monday, November 30, 2009

www.fijitimes.com - Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Noa Masitabua and Akeai Waqa of Nacamaki Village in Koro at the coconut oil factory in Walu Bay.

The use of diesel fuel will be a thing of the past for the people of Koro Island because they will now rely on coconut oil as its suitable replacement.

This means that all vehicles, generators, outboard motors and other machinery on the island will depend solely on bio-diesel extracted from coconut oil, which will be produced locally at Nacamaki Village.

The initiative is part of the efforts to introduce renewable energy for rural people who find it hard to cope with the rising price of diesel fuel.

As part of a long-term plan government has brought 15 villagers from Nacamaki to Suva to train them how to use the Modular Bio-Diesel Processing Plant which will be installed in the village early next year.

The $30,000 plant will be able to process other bi-products such as edible oil, soap, and fertiliser.

Department of Energy spokesman Vilimoni Vosarogo said the new processing plant would be the first of its kind to be introduced in Fiji and the Pacific. He said government has planned to install similar processing plants in Lau, Kadavu, Rotuma and other parts of Fiji.

Mr Vosarogo said villagers of Koro would have to build their own shed to accommodate the new plant while government would provide them training.

He said the new initiative would help ordinary villagers financially.

Nacamaki villager Leone Manu said the new project would create employment for the villagers. He said carting diesel fuel to the island was an expensive exercise.

He said villagers had given up selling dried coconuts to Savusavu and Suva because of the associated costs.

"Now that our coconuts will be sold on the island, it should help us financially in many ways," he said.

Biofuels - liquid fuels derived from plant materials - are entering the market, driven by factors such as oil price spikes and the need for increased energy security.

Biofuels provided 1.8 per cent of the world's transport fuel in 2008. Investment into biofuels production capacity exceeded $4billion worldwide in 2007.

www.fijitimes.com - Tuesday, December 01, 2009

New religious groups will be banned from Serua province if they do not follow the traditional protocol.

The issue was discussed in length at the Serua Provincial Council meeting at Vunibau Village.

Council chairman Ratu Samuela Waqanaceva told the Fiji Times that some new charismatic churches caused widespread division within the province because their beliefs contradicted traditional customs and beliefs.

"Some of these new churches do not agree with certain things we do in the village especially on traditional matters. While we respect their beliefs, it is becoming a worry because it contradicts our tradition and customs," Ratu Samuela said.

"Any religious group that wishes to enter the province will have to get an approval from the Commissioner Central's Office, likewise the provincial office," said Ratu Samuela.

He said there was an alarming increase on a number of charismatic churches in the province and the provincial office would want to see that they adhere to protocols to avoid any problems.

A number of new charismatic churches had been very vocal on traditional matters such as the consumption of kava which they viewed as contradicting their Christian beliefs, he said.

Meanwhile, delegates at the meeting unanimously supported the idea of establishing a Provincial Development Board to oversee the overall development within the province.

Commissioner Central Lieutenant Colonel Mosese Tikoitoga told the meeting that the new board would work closely with the government on all development matters arising from each province.

The names of those who will join the new board will be finalised this morning.

Ratu Samuela said the new initiative should avoid the bureaucracy within the government system.

"Hopefully the new board will speed up the whole process in getting our message across to the government," Ratu Samuela said.

In the name of the President

Stories about the new President (Fiji Times November 5 and 6 2009) make for interesting reading but your readers may have been a bit confused by the new President's Tongan connections. His distinguished Tongan connection is well known and given his recent elevation to Fiji's highest office, a reminder of the ancient relations between Fiji and Tonga might serve a useful purpose. It also serves as a reminder of how often our circumstances (now and future) are determined largely by forces outside our control.

Ratu Epeli Nailatikau's well known Tongan connection is perhaps too well known for the Mataqali na Tui Kaba. Like anyone else, he had nothing to do with the way his pedigree panned out. Some might explain it in the stars, others the waywardness of the heart.

His grandmother, Adi Litia Cakobau, was the daughter of Bauan Ratu Timoci Tavanavanua and Tupoutu'a of the Veikune family of Vava'u, Tonga. The story goes, in 1908, when the lovely Adi Litia was visiting Tongan relatives, she was seen and approached by the impetuous Tongan king, Tupou II.

The product of this brief romantic encounter was Ratu Edward. He was born in Bau in 1908 and was the second son of Tupou II, the oldest being Vilai, born in 1898.

Ratu Edward was given the Cakobau name from his maternal great-grandfather's side. When he visited Tonga for the first time in 1934, he was nicknamed Tungi Fisi in recognition of his high rank in Tonga. Queen Salote Tupou III and Princess Fusipala were therefore his half-sisters, and his son, Ratu Epeli, is therefore a cousin to the late king of Tonga, Tupou IV. The current king, George Tupou V, is the great-grandson of King George II. This material is available in Elizabeth Wood-Ellem's Queen Salote of Tonga, The Story of an Era 1900-1965, published in 1999.

On the other side, Ratu Epeli's great-grandfather, Ratu Timoci Tavanavanua, is of the Mataqali Tui Kaba of Bau, one that has been under siege from within since November 25, 1989.

The Tongan connection also runs deep in his wife's pedigree. Adi Koila's paternal grandmother, Lusiana Qolikoro, was one of eight striking daughters of a Tongan Wesleyan church minister and his kai loma or part-European wife of the Miller family. These and other intriguing details are told by Deryck Scarr in his Tuimacilai a Life of Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara launched in October by Papua New Guinea's Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare and our region's elder statesman.

Ratu Epeli's elevation to the highest office is important in another way - for what it signals about transformative changes taking place in Fiji. His appointment by the Bainimarama government in some ways represents a revolution, a quiet one yet nevertheless a revolution.

Why "revolutionary" your readers might well ask? Because the constitutional author of such appointment, the colonially instituted Great Council of Chiefs has been disregarded. In a tit for tat, the GCC had rejected Ratu Epeli's nomination and in turn the GCC has been shown, if Bainimarama is correctly reported, the "Mango Tree".

But more than that, for the first time since independence, a Fijian Head of State has been appointed without a vanua title. Not that being without vanua title can prevent an appointment, and although Ratu Epeli's genealogy is impeccably aristocratic, his appointment marks a significant shift in Fiji's social arrangements.

Under the imprimatur of the GCC, the past four heads of state have maintained the principle of equity among the three 19th century Confederations. The first was Ratu Sir George Cakobau, installed as the Vunivalu na Tui Kaba title and titular head of Kubuna. The second was Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, the Tui Cakau titleholder and titular head of Tovata. The third was Ratu Sir Kamiese Mara, bearers of Tui Nayau and Sau ni Vanua ko Lau titles of Lau, again of Tovata but undoubtedly taking cognizance that his wife, Adi Lady Lalabalavu Litia, was Roko Tui Dreketi, the eminent chieftain title of the Rewa-based Burebasaga.

Right to his grave, the enigmatic Sakiasi Butadroka of Rewa, decried his chieftain's being cast in the shadow of her imperious, towering but lesser ranking husband. The principle of rotating the office of head of state among the titular heads of the three confederations appealed to the vanua sense of history and fairness.

The fourth and recently retired President was Ratu Josefa Uluivuda Iloilo, Tui Vuda, a major district chief from the chauvinistic Yasayasa Vakara in the West, the fourth confederacy, with close affiliation to Burebasaga. Through Ratu Josefa, Burebasaga got its full tenure of government house!

With the principle of rotation established in this way, would Ratu Epeli Nailatikau's appointment been confirmed in the next appointment by the GCC?

The appointment of Ratu Epeli as the current and fifth head of state, returns the position to Kubuna. However, the recycle marks a radical departure from the established practice. Not only is he the first without the blessing of the GCC but he is also the first without a vanua title. Could he be setting a pattern for future heads of state or is his appointment merely an anomaly that will be corrected in time? He has the Naisogolaca inheritance and vasu to the Qaranivalu of Naitasiri and his Tongan royal family connection. Will Fijians regard these connections as sufficient in themselves? This change may appeal to modern oriented Fijians. Unfettered by a vanua title, will this make the President more accessible to ordinary citizens from all walks of life? He seems so.

Since 1987 to 2006, the word 'normal' has acquired many meanings for Fiji, and current high political appointments reflects social stresses in the local establishment. Whether these appointments will endure beyond the military regime remains to be seen. Furthermore, whether the chiefs as a collective form will ever respond, as with the currently fragmented Methodist Church, also remains to be seen. For the moment, the shift within the local tectonic plates provides interesting movements for readers.

* The views expressed in this article are that of the author and not necessarily the Fiji Times or the University of the South Pacific where he lectures history.